NFP

MARK RIEDER HEAD OF INNOVATION , NFP

“ The InsurTech space is seeing exponential growth . More and more solutions are coming to market . It ' s important as an organisation that we have a strategy on how to approach it . But one recipe for how it doesn ' t work is to focus on the technology first and then find a place to plug it ! Our approach is to come together and identify the problems , then go out and find technology that solves those problems .”

That said , he believes in keeping a proverbial ear to the ground , constantly meeting with the innovators bringing these solutions to the table . NFP ' s innovation lab doesn ' t set out to create blue-sky solutions ; instead , it streamlines and standardises the way it interacts with the innovator community , assessing their solutions and bringing them into its ecosystem – whether established players like Applied Systems and Salesforce , startups such as TrustLayer and Armadillo , or carriers such as Aflac .

Rejuvenating the elderly insurance industry Rieder is convinced the insurance business is at an inflection point and ready for a big shake-up , so it is critical to be acting on a plan . But he also thinks that , with the pace of technological advancements , it ' s delusional to think that a detailed five-yearplan is feasible .

While it ' s important to know the direction of travel , things are currently moving too fast , so the key is to always be adaptive . “ For too long , our industry seems to have been in a bubble , but that bubble is starting to pop . As this happens , stagnant thinking companies will struggle to keep market share . Insurance will always be about identifying trends and mitigating risk , but now the industry must take a leap and embrace the new tools that can assist in doing so in a more effective way . There ’ s so much room for automation of the mundane day-to-day tasks that folks are executing on a regular basis . This is our focus .”

“ Can we create a better environment for our employees and make it an industry that young people coming out of college really want to get involved with ? They don ’ t want to plug and chug along with spreadsheets – they don ' t even know what that is ! So , if we want to attract and retain employees , we need to focus on them , not just our customers .

“ Better customer experience will come about if we create a better experience for our employees .” insurtechdigital . com 39